I simultaneously traverse countless worlds

Slightly different from last night, room 504 was already filled with nine students from the other three classes, but Class A's homeroom teacher, Masashi Masayu, was not among them. The reason was that he had already explained yesterday that the members of the "Rabbit Group" needed to discuss it among themselves. After the homeroom teachers completed the grouping and explained all the rules, they could leave without further supervision.

After all, it's not a survival test on a deserted island where there's no need to worry about unexpected situations or require teachers to patrol every day. The "Preferential Treatment Game" mainly involves using your brain, so there's really no need for the homeroom teacher to be watching over you, which also helps prevent any leaks of questions!

"Li Mo! Class D students, you've arrived!"

Upon seeing Li Mo, Karuizawa Kei, and the others enter, Ichinose Honami, who was chatting quietly with her classmates, stood up to greet them and also greeted Karuizawa Kei and the other two students from Class D.

"Haha, Class President Ichinose, it seems we're actually the last ones to arrive~!"

Faced with Ichinose Honami's subtle yet affectionate greeting, Li Mo smiled and responded, but did not make any ambiguous moves.

There was no way around it; Li Mo was openly in a relationship with Horikita Suzune, and any overly ambiguous behavior between him and Honoka and Horikita would be big news at Advanced Nurturing High School, especially when outsiders were watching.

Even if Li Mo himself didn't care, Ichinose Honami and the others had to consider their own reputation. Even Sakayanagi Arisu hesitated on this issue, forcing him to openly keep a distance from the beautiful girls. At most, they were just classmates with a decent relationship. However, Ichinose Honami taking the initiative to greet him did not arouse suspicion from the other students, because she was always so enthusiastic.

In response to Li Mo's greeting, Ichinose Honami sat down with a smile. The other students from Class A and Class C, however, became noticeably serious when their eyes fell on him, presumably because some unpleasant memories had been awakened.

As Li Mo and his group of four took their seats, the loudspeaker in the room soon began to play.

"The next hour will be dedicated to the first round of group discussions!"

This wasn't just happening in room 504; the announcement echoed throughout the entire cruise ship, making it clear that all groups were simultaneously undergoing this special exam.

Leaving aside the other groups, in room 504, after the announcement, no one spoke. The atmosphere in the not-so-small space was so heavy it felt like it was about to freeze, as everyone was focused on the movements of the others.

Honami Ichinose glanced around, and after confirming that no one wanted to speak, she stood up, breaking the unusually quiet atmosphere:

"Well, although you all probably already know each other's names, considering that some of us may be meeting each other for the first time, and the school has also given instructions on this matter, I think it would be better if everyone introduced themselves!"

"This……"

These words surprised everyone except for Li Mo and Karuizawa Kei, who were not familiar with Ichinose Honami's personality.

In Japan, where "understanding the atmosphere around you" and "determining your social class" are compulsory courses for everyone, a normal person would logically remain silent and follow the crowd in this situation!

Li Mo, Karuizawa Kei, and several students from Class B were not surprised by Ichinose Honami's actions; this beautiful woman was the kind of person who was a socialite!

"Is there any need for self-introduction at a time like this?"

Seeing that Ichinose Honami had broken the quiet atmosphere, the next person to speak was a student from Class A. Li Mo glanced at him casually; his name seemed to be Machida Koji, just another background character he had no recollection of.

To put it more aptly, this character is the kind of background character who might not even have any lines, and wouldn't stand out in a school anime like Go!

"Furthermore, I don't think the school's so-called instructions are serious. In this situation, anyone who wants to introduce themselves should just step forward!"

Koji Machida's attitude was very impolite, and the students in Class A remained silent.

“If Machida and the rest of Class A insist on doing this, then I can’t force you. But there might be a microphone hidden somewhere in this room. Such blatant disobedience to the school’s exam instructions might implicate our entire group. What do you think?”

Ichinose Honami wasn't angry; she smiled kindly but said something that, with a certain probability, made the other students' expressions change.

"I...I'm Koji Machida, a student in Class A!"

Noticing that everyone was looking at him, and worried that he might implicate the entire group or even himself, Machida Koji's expression changed a few times before he simply introduced himself and that was it.

The other students in Class A didn't dare to gamble on whether the school would do that, so they all gave a brief self-introduction. Then, Honami Ichinose confidently started to introduce herself, and then the others followed suit.

Since it was just a test for the "Preferential Treatment Game" and not a matchmaking event, everyone kept their introductions brief, just their class and name, and the whole process went quite quickly. Following the current class order, everyone introduced themselves directly. Li Mo was no exception, even though everyone present knew him; it was just a formality.

After everyone finished their introductions, they all looked at each other in bewilderment, unsure of what to say next!

"Classmates, I have something I'd like to ask you..."

At this moment, Honami Ichinose stood up again and clapped her hands, a gentle smile on her face. She looked around and found that even Li Mo hadn't stopped her. She said in a very calm tone, "If we take 'no one is a favored party' as the premise, do you think that the best outcome for everyone in this 'favored party game' is to end with the result?"

The first outcome of the "Preferential Treatment Game" is that if everyone in the same group knows the "Preferential Treatment" identity but does not choose to report it and receive the reward, then all group members will receive 500,000 personal points, and the "Preferential Treatment" person will receive 1 million personal points. It can be said to be a happy ending for everyone.

However, all the students know that there are four possible outcomes to the "Preferential Treatment Game." Apart from the happy outcome, the other three are the best outcome for the "Preferential Treatment," the best outcome for the person who keenly discovers the "Preferential Treatment" identity, and the worst outcome where everyone loses. Moreover, apart from himself, no one else should know the identity of the "Preferential Treatment" for the time being (Li Mo previously directly asked the students to hand over their personal communication terminals, which is very difficult to do).

The benefits of concealing one's identity might be greater. The fear of others discovering that one is a "preferential recipient" and exposing them creates a game of hide-and-seek, much like Werewolf. Achieving outcome one in the "preferential recipient game" is extremely difficult. Li Mo doesn't believe that all thirteen members of the "Rabbit Group" could resist the option that would be more beneficial to them. It would be strange if it were that easy.

Li Mo didn't really care what Ichinose Honami wanted to do. The "Seed of Extraordinary" that he created by fusing beautiful girls and beauties wasn't meant to turn them into obedient puppets. He let them play this kind of competitive game however they wanted.

"Theoretically, result one is the optimal choice for everyone, provided that none of us are 'favored' individuals, otherwise wouldn't we want to get more points?"

Seeing that no one spoke, Li Mo spoke up directly.

Undoubtedly, as the "new student demon king" of the first year, Li Mo's speech made students from other classes feel as if they were facing a formidable enemy. Some students had a hint of fear on their faces, while others were determined and brave enough to try to defeat this demon king.

That's right, we're talking about Ibuki Mio from Class C. She's staring at Li Mo with a stubborn expression, clearly not forgetting the crushing defeat she suffered during the survival test on the deserted island!

"Also, none of the students in Class D saw the text message from the school because I had them leave their phones with me, and they deleted it immediately after reading it. In other words, even if there are any 'Rabbit Group' privileged individuals in Class D, they wouldn't know, let alone agree with Result One or reveal their 'privileged' status..."

Unfortunately, before Ichinose Honami could say anything more, Li Mo nipped her and the others' ideas in the bud.

No!

Can you still play like this?

This makes it completely impossible to know if there are any "preferential treatment" members from the Rabbit Group in Class D!

In an instant, almost all the students from Class A, Class B, and Class C in the room had different thoughts, and their gazes toward Li Mo became very strange.

Even though they had to admit that Li Mo's methods were ruthless, making it so that the "preferential treatment recipients" in Class D didn't even know they were "preferential treatment recipients," let alone gain more personal points, there was no way to counter these methods. Others simply couldn't get any relevant information from the other students in Class D.

As for the idea of ​​a mutually beneficial outcome through cooperation, that's simply not on Li Mo's side; he's already completely blocked that path in advance.

Honami Ichinose couldn't help but rub her forehead; she never expected her lover to be so ruthless!

At this moment, as soon as Li Mo brought out Class D's strategy, Ichinose Honami knew that it was impossible for the Rabbit Group or even the twelve groups to achieve the most perfect result. Even if someone was tempted, the lack of cooperation from Class D would be enough to make everyone else fall into a chain of suspicion and stop believing.

Moreover, Honami Ichinose herself knew that achieving result one in the "Preferential Treatment Game" required both strength and luck to have even a slight chance, but she was unwilling to give up, which is why she was striving to achieve the best possible outcome!

"No! The teacher clearly stated that students are prohibited from concealing or modifying the school's text messages in any way during this exam. What you did is a violation!"

At this moment, Machida Koji from Class A suddenly stood up, pointed at Li Mo, and shouted loudly, drawing the attention of the other students who regarded him as a warrior.

"Then go tell the teacher!"

Li Mo didn't even raise an eyelid at this kind of warrior, and simply shrugged and said.

"you……"

Seeing that his threats had no effect and he was even mocked by Li Mo, Machida Koji became furious. He gritted his teeth, took out his personal communication terminal from his pocket, unlocked the screen, and dialed the number of their Class A homeroom teacher, Majima Tomoya.

However, as soon as the call connected, Koji Machida's expression quickly changed from excitement to astonishment. He eventually hung up the phone, sat down, and fell silent!

"So, Mr. Majima, are you planning to disqualify me from the exam?"

Seeing Machida Koji's dejected expression, Li Mo didn't hold back and let out a mocking laugh:

"Judging from the looks of it, there probably won't be any reaction. I think he probably told you this: the exam rules prohibit students from concealing or modifying school text messages. This is to prevent students who are proficient in programming from changing the content of text messages by connecting to a computer and using it to deceive other students in the same group. Deleting text messages does not fall under the rules of concealment and modification, and it does not exceed the rules of the game."

"Besides, the [Preferential Treatment Game] doesn't stipulate that everyone must show their text messages to other group members. If I don't show them to you either, then whether I delete my text messages or not has nothing to do with you."

After saying this, Li Mo deliberately provoked Machida Koji and other students in Class A, making it seem particularly sarcastic, which made Machida Koji so angry that his veins bulged.

"...Indeed, just as you said, as long as we say nothing, then all the following discussions will be conducted in silence by Class A!"

Seeing Li Mo's provocative attitude, Machida Koji gritted his teeth, trying hard to suppress the urge to punch Li Mo but instead getting punched himself. He turned to look at the other students in his class and then spoke directly.

"Let me guess, is this Katsuragi Yasuhira's strategy? A tortoise defense approach..."

Li Mo raised an eyebrow at Machida Koji's words and began to mock him again. However, this time the students of Class A all remained silent, choosing to sit still as if they were dead, clearly putting on an act of "I can't hear anything."

This was not strange at all for Li Mo. When he was getting along well with Sakayanagi Arisu, she said that she would not participate in the command of this "preferential treatment game" and handed over the baton of Class A to Katsuragi Kohei. However, it would be better if Katsuragi Kohei could avoid losses this time, or even better if he could take the lead over Class B again and keep the name of Class A. But if he failed again, he would have to step down from the position of leader in disappointment.

After all, the two-headed eagles of Class A before, Katsuragi Kohei and Sakayanagi Arisu, were always at odds, and their styles of doing things were completely different. In this "Preferential Treatment Game" and the previous "Deserted Island Survival Assessment", Sakayanagi Arisu was prepared to make Katsuragi Kohei take the blame, and secretly or even quietly did something underhanded.

At this point, Katsuragi Kohei's choice of a conservative, turtle-like defensive strategy is not a strange one. However, Li Mo himself felt that it was just a desperate struggle by the opponent, a completely useless act!

"..."

Even though Li Mo's words were very impolite, Machida Koji and several other students from Class A chose to remain silent. At this moment, they were truly implementing Katsuragi Kohei's strategy, completely ignoring Li Mo's words and acting as if they were lying down and pretending to be dead.

Of course, the reason why the students in Class A were so obedient and completely carried out Katsuragi Kohei's orders was not because Katsuragi Kohei's prestige in Class A was still so high after his one failure. More importantly, they were facing the big boss of Class D. Even the warriors who had just tried to find the big boss's weaknesses were actually hoping that Li Mo would not take any violent actions during the [Preferential Treatment Game] assessment.

Otherwise, even if Machida Koji had the guts to do something out of line, he wouldn't have dared to provoke Li Mo directly. As a student in Class A, although his abilities weren't outstanding, he was definitely among the top freshmen. He understood very well that even if several students from Class A were all together, they wouldn't be a match for the "Great Demon King" who challenged all the fighting clubs on the first day of school. Moreover, when he provoked Li Mo earlier, he directly called Class A's homeroom teacher, Majima Tomoya, with the intention of suppressing Li Mo with the rules.

As a member of Class A, Koji Machida naturally understood the importance of the game rules. If he could really find Li Mo's weakness and successfully gain an advantage over the Great Demon King, the benefits would be countless. He might even be able to climb to the position of leader of Class A when Katsuragi Kohei's position as leader was shaken. Even if he failed, he could rely on the school rules and at least not worry about being violently retaliated against.

Unfortunately, when Machida Koji realized his plan had failed, he decisively chose to play dead. The other Class A students were not stupid either; since they hadn't stepped forward, why should they say anything? Naturally, they followed Machida Koji and chose to remain silent.

"Tsk tsk, let's call it a day then!"

Just then, the announcement that the first round of discussion had ended came over the loudspeaker. Li Mo withdrew his gaze from all the members of the [Rabbit Group] with some regret. He then waved to Karuizawa Kei and the other two students from Class D, and was the first to get up and leave room 504. The other class members of the [Rabbit Group] could only watch helplessly as the students from Class D left first.

After Li Mo and his group left, the students from the other three classes exchanged glances. Finding that no one wanted to stay and chat, they unhesitatingly chose to leave, preparing to use their own methods to break the "Preferential Treatment Game"!

Chapter 42 Clues and Answers

The first conversation between Li Mo's group, "Rabbit Group," ended without any progress. This was a common occurrence among the twelve groups in "Preferential Treatment Game," because the other eleven groups had also failed to produce anything useful during this period.

Or rather, what's most incredible is that the various groups in the "Preferential Treatment Game" were able to reach a conclusion in the first round of conversations!

"A hundred people, a hundred different"—this saying is not just a saying. Even in Class D, which Li Mo is currently leading, although they seem to be united as one and no student in Class D openly disobeys Li Mo's orders, there are still people like Haruki Yamauchi. It's just that Li Mo has a high reputation because he uses both kindness and severity.

However, faced with a sufficiently large temptation, Li Mo was unsure what choice the students in Class D would make. For example, in the "Preferential Treatment Game," the "Preferential Treatment" player would choose the outcome most advantageous to themselves, directly gaining a large number of personal points. Moreover, unless one directly checks the other party's personal communication terminal, it would be difficult to determine whether they were indeed a "Preferential Treatment" player, which is a rather difficult situation.

Therefore, Li Mo acted swiftly and decisively. When he gathered all the students of Class D in the morning, he had them temporarily hand over their personal communication terminals. After confirming the "preferential treatment" information of Class D, he deleted all of this information.

As Li Mo told Ichinose Honami, he now has complete control over the information on the "preferential treatment" of Class D. The other students in Class D don't even know if they are "preferential treatment" or not, so naturally they wouldn't be foolish enough to gamble on that slim probability. However, it's not the same for the other classes. Even Ryuen Sho, whose control over Class C is second only to Class D compared to Class A and Class B, has not been able to get the students in Class C to cooperate with him in this way.

From any perspective, Long Yuanxiang paid a heavy price but gained little during the "Deserted Island Survival Assessment Activity." He not only squeezed money out of Class A, allowing Class C students to earn 20,000 personal points per month, but also spent his time traveling and enjoying himself on a luxury cruise ship instead of participating in the assessment. This reduced the resentment of the Class C students considerably. However, Long Yuanxiang himself may face a crisis of trust, since controlling Class C through violence could lead to his downfall if a major problem arises.

Even Class C, where Long Yuanxiang is located, has to act cautiously. Class A, which is still in a two-way battle for supremacy, and Class B, which has a collective system, naturally cannot simply have their students hand over their cell phones. To find the "privileged," they have to gather intelligence or try to obtain information from other classes through other means, and then analyze the rules of the "privileged game" little by little to find out who the "privileged" are.

Under these circumstances, even if Li Mo didn't possess the foresight of a transmigrator and know the key points of the "Preferential Treatment Game," he would probably still need to ponder the crucial information within it, unlike now, where he confidently led his people back to Class D's activity area!

………………

On the luxury cruise ship, the first-year students from different classes had different expressions. The gatherings in twos and threes were all in a strange atmosphere. The usual scenes of chatting and laughing were rarely seen. The occasional words were full of hidden probing intentions. At first glance, they did not seem like students, but rather like a scene of business espionage.

There's no way around it; these past few months at [Advanced Education High School] haven't been a waste. The first-year students have all come to realize that the most important thing they have at school is their personal points. Students without personal points have to rely on mountain vegetable meals and free personal items to survive, directly falling to the bottom of [Advanced Education High School]. And it's obvious that no normal person would want to fall to such a state, which is why the competition between classes has become extremely fierce.

The problem is that the class competition model used in the "Deserted Island Survival Assessment" becomes a group competition in the "Preferential Treatment Game," which is a guessing game similar to Werewolf. Students in the same class all have their own ideas. Some are "preferential treatment" and want to gain the most benefits, while many other students want to find the "preferential treatment" in order to obtain the most advantageous benefits for themselves.

In this way, the complicated situation of the twelve groups can be understood. Apart from the students in Class D who genuinely didn't know about the "preferential treatment" news and didn't care, the students in the other classes were engaging in various probing actions!

"This is truly eye-opening; I never imagined it would be so lively!"